


A Single Golden Star

by actuallynobutwhynot



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Bittersweet, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Reminiscing, Unresolved Emotional Tension, a lil ooc but it is what it is, baby's first fic, i think, idk how to tag, might deviate from canon a lil since it's been a hot second since I read LL, ummm - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27619118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actuallynobutwhynot/pseuds/actuallynobutwhynot
Summary: After he is stuck in the Functionist universe, Megatron reflects. (Spoilers for MTMTE and LL)
Relationships: Megatron/Rodimus | Rodimus Prime
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	A Single Golden Star

"Rodimus. Captain.

You have my word."

Those were the last words he had said before they had parted ways, all those years ago. At the time, he had thought he would convince Terminus to come with them, they would leave the rebels behind to end the functionists' regime once and for all, and go back to their own universe. If he had had any idea, any notion of how wrong he was, well....

Best not to think about that too hard.

Megatron sat on the edge of his slab in the messy hab he'd recently claimed. The rebels had had to find a new base after the last one was nearly blown up by the council, so there had been a mad dash to find a new living space and a rush for each bot to claim their rooms within the broken down building they now operated from. However, before anyone could call dibs, Clicker had interjected and announced that Megatron would get first pick of a habsuite. Megatron, of course, immediately refused, saying that he was on equal ground with the others, but after some convincing, took one of the messier, less spacious habs. The others didn't seem too happy about their leader living in such a cramped space, but he waved them off, saying that he needed rest and there were sick and wounded to attend to.  
Megatron gave a heavy, suffering sigh, rubbing his face between his hands and pinching the bridge of his nose. Despite his efforts- despite the efforts of the rebellion- they had lost today, and lost big. The base they'd lost had had several pieces of tech that had become invaluable to their operations- a matter transporter, an (admittedly broken) earth-to-air cannon, a full med bay... to say they were at a disadvantage now would be sugarcoating it.   
A sudden thought brought him out of his musings, and he reached into his subspace, bringing out an item he'd become very familiar with over the past few centuries- an item he used to remind himself of what he was fighting for, and those he'd left behind.

He pulled out an old, battered Rodimus Star.

It had several dents and dings, a scratch through the face, and a large chunk missing from when it had gotten sliced off by a sword, but Megatron held it as if it were a priceless treasure. To think all those years ago, almost 700 to be exact, he had regarded it with disgust. He remembered the exact conversation he'd had when Rodimus first pressed the tacky thing into his hand, all the while grinning like an idiot.  
~~~~~~  
"...What is this."

"It's a Rodimus Star! They're for when a bot does something good, like cleaning the brig or talking down Whirl from an engex-fueled rampage, and YOU, co-captain Megatron, have just earned yourself your first one!"

"What could I have possibly done to earn one of these? Have you forgotten what I did? And don't call me co-captain."

"Oh come on, Megs-"

"Don't call me that either."

"-you abandoned your evil ways! You became an Autobot, and my co-captain! You earned this star, and you are gonna take it, whether you want to or not!"

".... So let me get this straight. You put your entire crew in danger by bringing an insane, homicidal Decepticon on this ship, you held a vote to see if they still wanted you as their captain, and then attempted to win them back with.... a materialistic rewards system with no real value." Megatron said, ticking off each point on his fingers.

Rodimus' comical grim turned into an equally exaggerated pout. "Hey, it helps morale! I'll have you know Magnus almost smiled when I gave him his!"

"I highly doubt that."

"You highly doubt EVERYTHING."  
~~~~~~  
Megatron gave a small smirk. He'd thought Rodimus to be childish and immature, incapable of properly leading. He'd been right, of course, but then he was ignoring so much of what Rodimus had done, wasn't he? Although Rodimus made mistakes like there was no tomorrow, he learned from them. He made rash decisions, but had a quick mind and could think on the go. And no matter what, Rodimus always tried. He never gave up, but when he did, he'd step back and let those around him speak their minds, formulating a plan from the words of those he trusted.   
Megatron's smile grew a little as he was pulled into his more recent memories of his time spent on the Lost Light. He honestly couldn't pinpoint the exact time or date it had happened, but something... changed between him and Rodimus. They became less guarded around each other, a little more casual in conversation, although not much at first. But over time, they became closer, almost.... comfortable around each other.  
And then came the idle touches. Rodimus would lay a hand on Megatron's arm when he wanted to look over his shoulder at what Megatron was working on. He would softly tap the former warlord's shoulder or back to get his attention. A light punch to the forearm if he was joking around and Megatron responded in his usual bored tone. Megatron became more and more aware of these small bits of contact, and soon they became a little more commonplace. He'd be reading over the umpteenth report of the day, his processor slowly melting, when the feeling of a small hand would press into his middle back. The first time, he stiffened up, and the hand was quickly removed, but about a week later, it happened again. This time, however, Megatron leaned into the touch a bit, not looking up from his work, and was rewarded with a reassuring pat before Rodimus had to go and work.  
He assumed that Rodimus was like this with everybody, that he just communicated better with added physical contact. But when Megatron started observing Rodimus' interactions with other crewmembers, he made a startling revelation: He was the only one Rodimus came in physical contact with. In fact, it seemed as if the speedster actively avoided touching even those he considered his friends among the crew. This discovery only served to confuse Megatron, a feeling that he was getting used to while living on the Lost Light.   
It wasn't as if Megatron minded, he found that being in the Decepticon army for 6 million years left one more than a little touch starved, and honestly, it didn't hurt to be a little more open with his 'co-captain'. Hell, it might have helped improve his standing with the Autobots in some small way.  
And from there, Megatron lost track of events even more. Again, he couldn't remember the exact moment when some kind of boundary between them had been crossed, but he found himself being much more... intimate with Rodimus. Not in the way most bots would think, but rather... emotionally. Long nights spent in one of their habsuites, talking about their lives, their thoughts, their friends and enemies... They found a kind of solace in the other's company, a place where they could lay their thoughts bare and not be judged.  
~~~~~~  
One night, they had been talking casually as usual, both having a bit too much engex, and something deep inside of Rodimus just seemed to... crumble, and Megatron found himself embracing the sobbing mech. He honestly had no idea what could have triggered such a meltdown, but he held Rodimus tightly as the speedster cried openly.  
Soon, Rodimus' cries faded into soft sniffling and the occasional hiccup, his shoulders twitching as he vented sharply. Megatron remained quiet, only loosening his hold on Rodimus when the smaller mech raised his tear-stained face from where it had been pressed against Megatron's chestplate. Rodimus turned his head to the side, obviously embarrassed. Megatron's spark wrenched at the thought; surely Rodimus didn't think he'd judge him for this? That just wouldn't do. He decided to speak up.

"Do you... want to talk about it?"

Even though Rodimus' face was turned to the side, Megatron still caught the pained look that crossed the young prime's faceplate.

"No... I can't. Even if I could..."

"You wouldn't know where to start." Megatron finished for him.  
Rodimus turned to look at Megatron, a desperate, searching look in his eyes as he scanned Megatron's faceplate for deception.   
Megatron gave a gentle, genuine smile.   
"I understand."  
And with that, he lightly kissed the top of Rodimus' chevron.  
~~~~~~  
Something wet landed on Megatron's hand. jolting him back into the future. He looked down just in time to see another tiny tear splash onto the Rodimus Star. The former warlord brought a hand to his face, gently rubbing at his eyes until the tears stopped coming.   
Megatron looked down at the now tear-stained Rodimus Star, rubbing it tenderly with a thumb as he thought of the young prime. How they had been able to forge a relationship, despite their differences of opinion, background, and personality, he might not ever fathom, but he never needed to. The time he had had with Rodimus had been short, painfully so. They had just barely had their first kiss before they parted ways all those centuries ago. He never got to tell Rodimus just how much those idle touches and soft words they had exchanged meant to him, and he most likely never would.

And yet... 

Megatron found that he wouldn't have given those precious moments up for anything.

He just wished he could have kept his promise.


End file.
